The new fall campaign for clothing retailer American Eagle Outfitters features simple, sexy shots of actress Sydney Sweeney, creating a lot of buzz online about the death of “woke” marketing.
The tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” has been added to shots and short video clips of the “White Lotus” actress wearing American Eagle jeans, racking up millions and millions of views online.
Sydney Sweeney for American Eagle pic.twitter.com/7RFIbKtcPq
— Complex Style (@ComplexStyle) July 23, 2025
One clip includes Sweeney looking under the hood of a car, before the camera zooms-in on her jeans as she walks away.
Sydney sweeney for American Eagle. pic.twitter.com/oOU8WMwJHA
— Sydney Sweeney Daily (@sweeneydailyx) July 23, 2025
Another shows the “Euphoria” actress looking at herself with a video camera while laying on the ground with a dog.
While some commenters raged that the ad campaign panders to the “male gaze” or is “alt-right coded,” others celebrated the marketing for avoiding “woke” elements.
“American Eagle ads, 2019 vs 2025. Woke is dead,” one X account highlighted.
American Eagle ads, 2019 vs 2025. Woke is dead. pic.twitter.com/TGbP0B50ee
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 24, 2025
“America is healing,” journalist Breanna Morello joked about the campaign. Other comments read, “The woke mind virus is dying,” and “America is back.”
“So it turns out that the male gaze is actually good for business,” one person joked.
So it turns out that the male gaze is actually good for business.#AmericanEagle pic.twitter.com/sezXFbE9TL
— No room for wokeness! (@Wokenessisevil) July 26, 2025
One X account noted, “We went from Lizzo Elle cover to Sydney Sweeney has great genes in three years.”
we went from Lizzo Elle cover to Sydney Sweeney has great genes in three years pic.twitter.com/L485BakKG2
— ᐱ ᑎ ᑐ ᒋ ᕮ ᒍ (@Andr3jH) July 25, 2025
A recent Nike ad, which celebrates traditional fatherhood, was also highlighted. “Are we back? I think we’re back,” the post is captioned.
Are we back? I think we’re back. pic.twitter.com/HVvwwG6OV5
— 👣ℙ𝕖𝕕𝕣𝕠’𝕤 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕖🇺🇲 (@OfAthenry) July 25, 2025
Some conservatives, however, said it was foolish for fellow conservatives to praise the ad, since, though it’s not woke, it’s also not “conservative” due to its sexual nature.
